21-year-old charged with manslaughter in Mountain Brook accident that killed unborn child

A 21-year-old Fultondale man has been charged with manslaughter and assault in a traffic accident on U.S. 280 that killed an unborn child Monday in Mountain Brook, police said today.

Mountain Brook police Chief Ted Cook said Irwin Francisco-Bartolo was traveling west on U.S. 280  near the intersection of Rocky Ridge Road in a 2004 Chevrolet Blazer when it crossed the median and struck a 2011 Toyota Camry head-on about 7 p.m. Monday.

The driver of the Camry, 29-year-old Tiffany Horton of the Alabaster area, was about 33 weeks pregnant, and her unborn child was killed as a result of the wreck, Cook said. Horton suffered multiple broken bones in various parts of her body and was taken to UAB Hospital, he said.

Police officers on the scene determined that Bartolo was under the influence of alcohol and arrested him immediately, though police have only today obtained warrants for blood and urine tests to determine his blood-alcohol level, Cook said.

The manslaughter and assault charges against Bartolo were issued today by the Jefferson County district attorney’s office. His bond was set at $100,000 for each charge. He was in the Mountain Brook Jail today awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail.

“It was a bad decision by a 21-year-old man to drink and go out and drive,” Cook said.